FAQ

The registration fee is $10/person. We hope to be able to refund all registration fees due to support from our incredible sponsors (we did this in 2016). Any registration fees collected are used to help cover the cost of food, t-shirts, and prizes.

The programming competition is limited to Java. Our decision was made for ubiquity (cross platform, taught in introductory programming classes) and security. While we would like to offer more options we do not have the resources to adequately develop and test extensions to other languages.

If you choose to bring your own computer, ensure that it has, at a minimum, Java 8 and the Ant build system. The Oracle JDK 8 is required; alternative JDKs, such as those which come installed by default in many Linux distributions are not sufficient for running the competition software. Make sure your JAVA_HOME path setup correctly. The competition software has been tested on machines running modern version of Windows, Linux, and OSX. Due to limited resources, we can only ensure support for the MTU lab machines.

We will provide instructions for compiling and running AIs using both the Eclipse IDE and the command line. Contestants are welcome to use alternative IDEs and revision control systems, however we will provide no support or instructions for their use.

As the details of the game design and API are kept secret until the day of the competition, competitors are more than welcome to prepare any electronic or physical documentation. This includes books, the internet, handwritten notes, coding libraries, etc.

While the study of artificial intelligence may seem immediately beneficial previous winners have had little or no experience with the field of study. Your job is to craft a winning strategy and implement it; the best strategies are often simple and require human ingenuity as opposed to mathematical methods.

Due to our generous sponsors and your registration fee we are able to provide you breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks through the coding session of the competition. Please inform us of any potential issues and we will do our best to cater to your needs.